


Read Between The Lines

by unrequitedlover227



Category: A Simple Favor (2018)
Genre: F/F, the kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-21
Updated: 2018-09-21
Packaged: 2019-07-15 04:14:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16055354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unrequitedlover227/pseuds/unrequitedlover227
Summary: My version of what happened following "the kiss."





	Read Between The Lines

“You’re okay. Wanna order Pizza?” Emily’s fingertips gently rub away a falling tear as Stephanie pulls back, turning away from her. The brunette’s heart is racing, lips tingling. Did I really just kiss my best friend? Did she just kiss me? 

Stephanie takes a deep breath in, desperately trying to calm her mind and her body. The nervous laughter sets in.

“Oh gosh. Phew… God I’m so embarrassed.” She giggles, busying her hands in her hair, frantically wiping away the remnants of tears. 

“Oh ‘cause of that? No. It’s all good, Baby. It’s all good. Just another Tuesday.” Emily is way too nonchalant about this. She doesn’t move, still leaned in toward Stephanie, eyes on her, watching her every move.

One more deep breath. Plaster on the fake, giddy smile. Stephanie finally turns to look at her friend. Blue eyes searching hers, trying to find some kind of meaning, emotion, reason for all of this. But it’s as if they are both speaking a different language. She can’t quite understand what just happened. What is happening now. 

A few moments of silence pass between them. It feels like a decade. Finally, she smiles at Emily. Nods her head, as if to say, “Thanks. I get it. Let’s move on.” 

Emily reaches forward, pushes a small strand of brown hair behind Stephanie’s ear, then ghosts her fingertips down her jawline. “I’m going to order Pizza before the boys get home,” Emily says. And with that, the spell is broken. Stephanie lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. 

Emily stands and turns to head toward the kitchen. Stephanie runs her hands over her face one more time before straightening out her dress over her lap. Deep breaths.  
The blonde turns her head back toward the still seated brunette. “You know where the bathroom is. Might want to freshen up a bit before Nicky and Miles get home. Wouldn’t want to the boys to think I was mean to you or something.” She smirked and walked off. 

“Oh right, yes, of course. Right away. Gotta take care of these eyes. You’re absolutely right.” Stephanie rambled nervously as she stood up. “Right, you order pizza. I’m going to go do that,” she gestured toward the hallway, a nervous giggle slipping out.

Emily looked back at her friend from the kitchen, her eyebrow cocked, a slight smirk on her lips. Stephanie’s cheeks flushed red. “Yeah, chill. Got it. I’m chill, the chill-est chill there could be!” Her mouse voice had officially kicked in. More embarrassment. Emily laughed. 

“Ugh sorry.” Stephanie said as she turned her back to Emily and started to move toward the bathroom.

“Baby, what’d I say about that word?” Emily called after her, as the brunette disappeared into the hallway. 

Stephanie mentally slapped herself. “Okay, right. Be right back!” She called out, closing the door to the bathroom behind her. 

Once safely inside, she let out a long deep sigh. She stared at herself in the mirror for a moment, then shook all of her feelings out. She took a minute to close her eyes and breathe deeply, finally starting to let go of some of the giddiness, the nerves, the tingling. When she opened her eyes to see her reflection staring back at her, she realized she was unconsciously running her fingers along her lips. She could still feel the blonde’s lips on her own, still smell her perfume, still hear her breath. 

A wave of calm washed over her. Stephanie smiled. It just dawned on her. This kiss was exactly what she has been aching for all along. 

The enigma that is Emily Nelson, vulnerable and open, warm and close. Her best friend was both exciting and frightening, both familiar and foreign, both here and gone at all times. Stephanie was grateful, honoured even, to be spending time with the illusive Emily and her picture perfect family. She had even grown quite fond of Nicky and the brotherly relationship he had formed with her Miles. But was she happy just being friends? Did she want more? 

Instead of being nervous or scared, Stephanie felt at peace with this realization. She smiled to herself and giggled softly. “I want her,” she whispered to herself and laughed lightly. 

After splashing her face with cool water and feeling like a presentable human again, Stephanie left the bathroom and headed back toward the kitchen. 

“… and then Nicky caught the ball and ran all the way to the other side of the playground!” “… and I was too fast for Miles to catch me so I just kept running and running and running!” “… and he was like wooooosssshhh! He was so fast!” “Mommy I was so fast!” 

The boys had come home and were sitting at the kitchen island. Stephanie could hear the boys giggling and talking over one another as they told Emily about their playground shenanigans from the day. She couldn’t see them yet, but she could practically hear Emily eye-rolling from behind the counter. This made her smile. 

“Mom!” Miles hopped down from the counter and ran over to greet Stephanie when she stepped into the room. 

“Hi buddy! How was your day?” The brunette scooped up the boy and ruffled his hair. Miles groaned and pushed away, struggling to get down.

“It was fiiiinneee…” He whined, dropped to the floor, and ran to grab Nicky’s hand. “Nicky let’s go see how fast you are in the back yard!” The two boys ran out of the house, hand in hand, arguing about who could run the fastest. Stephanie laughed as she watched them go.

“Aren’t those two just the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?!” She cooed.

“Mmhmm.” Emily mumbled, shaking the Martini shaker in her hands. “Another?” Her expression was distant, cold, familiar. 

Emily felt her heart deflate a bit. What happened to the warmth that was there a few minutes ago? What happened to the Emily that kissed her, that told her everything would be okay, that offered to order pizza?

Stephanie shook her head. “I think I should go. Miles has to have a bath tonight and you know there’s always lots of homework and cleaning and baking. Oh there’s the bake sale next week, I should probably get started on that. Yeah, we should go.” 

Emily poured two martini’s and offered one out to the rambling brunette. “Pizza is on the way. Nicky said there is no homework. They can bathe here. There’s this thing called a grocery store. Fuck cleaning. You’re staying.” Emily said, dryly. Not exactly the best invitation, but somehow it was exactly what Stephanie wanted to hear.

“… we really need an oopsie jar around here.” Stephanie mumbled under her breath, taking the martini glass from the Blonde’s hand and bringing it to her lips for a sip. 

“What’s that? Baby, don’t mumble.” 

Stephanie swallowed the gin in her mouth, smiled. Feeling some of her confidence return. It’s amazing what that pet name, coming from that mouth, can do to a woman. 

“Where’s Sean?” Stephanie questioned, lightly.

Emily leaned forward on the counter, staring intently at the brunette, martini glass resting in front of her. “Work trip.” 

Stephanie nodded, looking away from the blonde, toward the back yard. The intensity of the stare coming from the other woman was a bit unnerving. “Want to go watch the boys outside?” she hesitantly questioned. 

“No.”

Stephanie nodded again. Unsure of how to proceed. She took another sip, well more of a gulp, of her martini. She finally looked back at the blonde. Emily was smirking, observing the other woman. It made Stephanie nervous, she giggled and asked, “What?”

“Do you feel safe here?” 

A look of confusion flashed across the brunette’s face. “Pardon me?”

Emily stood up. Maintained her intense eye contact with the woman in front of her. The boys’ laughter and shrieking could be vaguely heard in the distance. She repeated herself, “Do you feel safe here?” 

Stephanie looked deep into Emily’s eyes, trying to decipher what she meant, what game she was trying to play. The blonde’s expression was calm, almost blank. But there was a hint of vulnerability in the question, a hint of something Stephanie very much wanted to play on and see more of.

“In this neighborhood? In this house? In this world? Safe how?” She questioned. The smile slid from her face and Stephanie took a few steps toward the blonde, almost as if she was challenging her. 

Emily did not concede. She walked around the counter, stepping closer to the shorter woman, never once letting her intense glare falter even slightly. Stephanie was biting her lip.

“With me. Do you feel safe here with me?” Her voice was low, intimate. 

Stephanie broke the gaze, looking down at the half empty glass in her hand. She shrugged and swirled the liquid around, watching it move in the glass. “Sometimes.” Her response was flat. She was desperately trying to ensure the blonde would not become aware of how much she was actually shaking, tingling, stomach-flip-flopping because of their physically close proximity. 

Emily was confused, but she didn’t want to give in just yet. She reached toward the brunette and gently grasped her chin, turning her face toward her own. “Explain.” 

Stephanie took a deep breath, reengaging in eye contact.

“Sometimes I can tell you’re right here with me, and you’re not going anywhere, and yes I feel safe with you.” Emily smiled softly. “But sometimes you look as if you could bolt at any moment and I would never see you again. And no, I do not feel safe with you when I can’t see you, reach you, touch you.” 

Stephanie was surprised at the words coming out of her mouth. She hadn’t intended to be as honest as she was. She felt an instant pang of guilt in her stomach and pulled away, taking a step back from Emily, shaking her head. 

“Ugh! That was weird! I made it weird!” Her nerves got the best of her.

Emily smiled and stepped in closer to the smaller woman again. “Sorry I made you nervous, Baby.” She was laughing, smirking at her, fully aware of the effect she was having on the other woman. But was she winning? What was she really after?

“You’re not supposed to say sorry,” Stephanie said, not moving away from Emily but not yet making eye contact. 

Emily laughed. She took the martini glass from Stephanie’s hand and placed it, along with her own, on the counter, stating “Confession” as she moved the items away from them. Stephanie finally looked back at the blonde, not quite able to anticipate what was going to happen.

Emily brought her hands to Stephanie’s face, brushing her hair away from her eyes, hooking it gently behind her ears. Stephanie’s hands naturally gravitated to Emily’s waist. Their eyes softened instinctively.

“You…” Emily leaned in closer.

“Make me…” Emily inhaled deeply as she rested her forehead against Stephanie’s. Stephanie’s breath hitched.

“Feel safe.” Stephanie tiled her head up a bit, no longer able to wait. As soon as the words were out of Emily’s mouth, Stephanie’s lips closed firmly on the blonde’s, feeling the blonde instantly react by pulling the brunette impossibly closer, lips and tongues slowly exploring, claiming space. A low moan escaped from one of them. 

Emily pulled back a tiny bit, watching the smaller woman’s chest rise and fall in time with her own heavy breathing. Heart racing, eyes full of vulnerability and desire, she asked again, barely above a whisper, “Do you feel safe here?” 

Stephanie grinned, cheeks flushed, whole body tingling. She looked up into the green eyes peering intently at her. Before answering, she brought her hand up and brushed her thumb along the blonde’s almost quivering lip, gentle as if one wrong move might shatter this delicious moment. 

“You…” Stephanie began to whisper back, tilting her head softly to the side, eyes and heart wide open.

Both women took a shaky breath in, subconsciously pulling the other closer, completely and utterly lost in each other, in this. 

“Make me…” She tenderly slid her hand down Emily’s cheek, grazing her neck, and finally resting just above her heart, the skin beneath her unbearably warm. 

Stephanie leaned in, lips barely touching, and she whispered,

“Feel at home.”


End file.
